by on May 8, 2009 Leave a Comment

Learn How to Customize Outlook’s User Interface (attend my session at Tech-Ed)

 

Next week I am presenting a session at Tech-Ed that shows off a few cool techniques for customizing Outlook. I’ll presenting with one a fellow Cogent Company cohort, Damon Armstrong.

If you are interested in customizing Outlook and want to learn how to customize its UI then you don’t want to miss this session. We’ll cover the basics while implementing a business process that allows us to show more advanced techniques.

In fact, we’ll show you to do this:

HTasks

Trust me you want to attend…especially because you learn just how simple a solution like this can be.

Below is the full session abstract copied from the official Tech-Ed 2009 site.

See you in LA!

OFC325 Building Custom Applications in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

Ty Anderson, Damon Armstrong

Tue 5/12 | 2:45 PM-4:00 PM | Room 408A

Tags:

300 – Advanced, Breakout Session, Developer, Developer Manager, Microsoft® Office Suites, Office and SharePoint, Solutions Architect, Yes, Yes

This session covers strategies for customizing Outlook for your unique business requirements. The session covers how to build task panes (for Inspectors and Explorers), form regions, custom Ribbons, and more. A real-world business scenario is used to provide context as each demo builds upon itself to show how each UI component can work with each other. In addition, other features like data storage, views, and search are covered.
Filed Under: Conferences, Featured, Office Development, Outlook, VSTO Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
by on May 6, 2009 Leave a Comment

Now Available: Data Analysis For Excel 2008!

Back in March, I posted to Mac Mojo about Excel's Analysis ToolPack add-in and Office 2008.  For those that don’t know, Analysis ToolPak (ATP) is a wildly useful tool that provides 19 different data analysis options to Excel users. If you’re looking to do a quick histogram, ANOVA or covariance test, ATP is one of those features that can make you fall in love with Excel all over again. There’s just one problem: while ATP shipped with earlier versions of Office (such as Office 2004), it didn’t come with Office 2008

Read the original: 
Now Available: Data Analysis For Excel 2008!

Filed Under: Excel, Featured, Office News, Windows Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
by on February 10, 2009 Leave a Comment

Invest 5 Minutes and Learn about VSTO Frequently Asked Questions

 

The Ins-and-Outs of VSTO Can Be Confusing

Developing solutions with Microsoft Office using VSTO can be difficult as it isn’t as straight-forward as targeting a version of the .NET Framework to support and then proceeding with all the activities involved with developing a custom solution.

Nope. If you are targeting Office, you are potentially dealing with several versions of Office. If so, then you could be dealing with multiple versions of VSTO. And if so, then you are dealing with multiple strategies for dealing with your VSTO solution’s deployment and security.

VSTO is great and I use it as often as I can but it can be a mess to coordinate all the overlapping components of Office, Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework. Keeping all the details related to the various scenarios of when to use what is difficult. In fact, my notes are sometimes indecipherable.

So I am glad to have found an FAQ on MSDN’s VSTO forum that provides answers to complex situations you will encounter when using VSTO to build Office add-ins.

The VSTO FAQ on MSDN

Here is the link to Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) FAQs

This FAQ includes answers to such questions as:

  1. How many versions of Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) are there, and what are the differences between them?
  2. What are the similarities and differences between Shared Add-In and VSTO application-level Add-In?
  3. Why doesn’t my VSTO add in load after the deployment, but works on my development machine when debugging in Visual Studio?
  4. How to get the location of the custom task pane when it is floating?
  5. What registry entries in the client machine are needed when an Add-In is deployed?
  6. and 14 more….

If you are new to VSTO or even if you are an experienced VSTO developer, this site is worth the 5 minutes it will take to read over the FAQ.

Filed Under: Featured, Office Development, VSTO Tagged With: , ,
by on February 5, 2009 9 Comments

Use VBA To Reset Task Due Dates in Outlook

There was an earlier version of this post. It had more words and as it went on and on about how I track damn near everything in Outlook. It’s true. Everything. If I don’t track something I want to do or have to do as an Outlook task, it won’t get done.

I deleted that post by accident as I thought I was deleting something else. As it turns out, the wrong Window had the focus when I hit the Delete button and I deleted this post. Dammit!

Anyways, I always fall way behind on the deadlines I set for my tasks. So each Monday morning, I set the deadlines to a week from the current day.

Here is the VBA code to achieve this.

Sub ResetTaskDeadlines()
    Dim ns As NameSpace
    Dim fld As Folder
    Dim task As TaskItem
    Dim items As Outlook.items
    Dim rest As Outlook.items
    Dim filterSQL As String

    Set ns = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
    Set fld = ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderTasks)
    Set items = fld.items
    filterSQL = "@SQL=" & """http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/id/"
    filterSQL = filterSQL & "{00062003-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}/"
    filterSQL = filterSQL & "81010003""" & " <> 2"
    Set rest = items.Restrict("[Status] <> 'Completed'")

    For Each task In rest
    ''UNCOMMENT THE OPTION YOU WANT TO USE
        ''task.DueDate = "1/1/4501" 'Set to NO Due Date
        ''task.DueDate = task.DueDate + 7 ' Set to 7 days from current due date
        task.DueDate = today() + 7 'Set to a week from today
        ''task.DueDate = FirstDayOfNextMonth ' Set to first day of next month
        'task.Save
    Next

End Sub

Function FirstDayOfNextMonth() As Date
   Dim d As Date
   d = Date
   FirstDayOfNextMonth = DateSerial(Year(d), Month(d) + 1, 1)
End Function

I pretty much use VSTO to build Outlook add-ins professionally. But for quick personally useful scripts like this, VBA still reins.

Filed Under: Featured, Office Development, Outlook, Samples Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
by on January 29, 2009 2 Comments

How Do I: Setup and Configure the Excel Data-Mining Add-in?

New video on MSDN…

This video shows how configure to setup the Data Mining Client For Excel addin. This addin is part of the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007 download available at: http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=896A493A-2502-4795-94AE-E00632BA6DE7.

Here is the original post:
How Do I: Setup and Configure the Excel Data-Mining Add-in?

Filed Under: Business Intelligence, Excel, Featured, Microsoft, Office 2007 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
by on January 9, 2009 Leave a Comment

Windows 7!!!

Windows7

Now what?

UPDATED: this link might help…at least it describes what is new & different in Windows 7 besides turning my desktop into a fish tank. I don’t like fish. In fact, I am very uninspired by them. I don’t understand why this is the image the Windows team chose to introduce me to Windows 7.  But is Monday and I’m a bit cranky.

Filed Under: Featured, Microsoft, Windows Tagged With: , , ,
by on November 20, 2008

New Site aggregates SharePoint Developer Topics…

Microsoft has a new site that helps you get started using SharePoint in your development efforts. The site aggregates virtual labs, webcasts, white papers, tutorials and other related content. Instead of searching everywhere for good code to steal, you can go to this site and find what you need to get started with SharePoint development

image

The site covers the foundational topics of SharePoint development such as:

  • building Web Parts
  • working with SharePoint Data Lists
  • creating custom Workflows
  • creating Event Handlers
  • Designing custom Themes (or Brands)
  • using SharePoint Web Services
  • creating custom Content types
  • and more (i.e. Silverlight, page navigation, user management, etc)

The site reminds me of the Interactive Developer Map (IDM) available at the Office Developer Portal. The IDM highlights what you can do with WPF while also providing a tool that aggregates content related to Office development (i.e. VSTO, SharePoint, & more).

Filed Under: Featured, SharePoint Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
by on August 26, 2008 Leave a Comment

Getting Started With SOA

I had the privilege of writing an article discussing SOA for CIO.com which was published a couple of weeks ago.  Check it out here:

Why Adopting SOA Is Like Purchasing a Total Gymimage

In the article I create a word-picture (aka an analogy) in which I compare adopting SOA to purchasing a Total Gym. Somehow the analogy works.

 

Although SOA has several benefits, transforming your body to look like Chuck Norris or Christie Brinkley isn’t one of them.

Filed Under: Architecture, Articles, Featured Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
by on April 19, 2008 Leave a Comment

Looking to Learn about Office Development & VSTO?

Download these files and give them a listen…also, while you are at it, open up the VBA help files for the Office app you plan to target for a solution and learn the object model.

And one more thing….it doesn’t hurt to become a proficient user of the applications either. In fact, if you don’t know what the Office Suite is capable of doing, then you have no idea what you are capable of building using Office in your solutions.

Filed Under: Featured, Office Development, VSTO Tagged With: , , ,
by on April 9, 2008 Leave a Comment

So…Just What Exactly is Microsoft’s SaaS-Database Strategy?

Does MSFT have a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) strategy related to data? If they do, I would like to know sooner as opposed to later.

appengine_lowresAlmost every week I see something new regarding databases that intrigues me (a MSFT-focused  developer). Today it is the Google App Engine. Amazon has SimpleDB (I think that’s the name). SalesForce.com even offers a database service (although it is intended for their platform). There are others and I could list them here but I am not into that.

What does MSFT offer to fill this "database in the cloud/software-as-a-service" niche? Diddly-squat (best I can tell). But what do I know? I admit readily that when it comes to MSFT I am among the last to know. I am not an insider. I have no internal sources.

I love SQL Server and I find it kicks-ass in the situations where I need it (i.e. the database for my applications and data warehouses). SQL Express is quite good too. I’m using it now for an Excel OBA project. It’s a solid database without all the bells & whistles provided by the full versions of SQL Server.

But what about a software service that allows me to easily build & publish applications to a wider audience? You know, the type that brings me fortune and fame, stops global warming, prevents poverty, and provides for my retirement? Sure, I can go to a hosting provider, buy or rent a SQL Server license and then use it as my data provider. Then again, maybe I can’t because I might break the Microsoft SQL Server licensing scheme. I’m sure it all depends upon my path in an overly complicated "licensing decision tree". 

Microsoft has been great to its partners but if they continue to rely on their partner model too much it will hurt them. Because of Microsoft’s strategy to deliver their products through their partner channel, they do not have relationship with the majority of their customers. Microsoft should take corrective action, build a direct relationships with their clients, and thus improve the Microsoft brand.

I’m just thinking here…thinking MSFT should rediscover their soul. They should thumb their nose at the anti-trust communists in the US and Europe and do what they know the market wants. Microsoft should once more challenge their competition head-on. It was a winning strategy in the 80s & 90s and the market rewarded them. It is still a winning strategy and the rewards still exist. And the thing is, Microsoft’s customers want more from Microsoft. You only need to look at Apple and Google to see how customers respond to a company that seeks great relationships from their customers. Why Microsoft is not doing more of this "seeking", I have no idea.

Microsoft should leverage their Office Live platform (both the Office Live Workspace and the Office Live for Small Business versions) and deliver a development platform in the sky that blows away anything Google and Amazon have. The current focus of Office live is the business user. That’s great and I think it is really powerful and useful…but what about the developer?

I want a simple platform for publishing software. I want it to be integrated with other tools like customer management, payment processing, search advertising (Live, Yahoo, & Google), and accounting.

Microsoft, if you have something out their like I propose and if it has a cool logo and a snazzy name and makes the masses sing a happy tune…I want to know about it. If it exists already, then I blame marketing for confusing me with really long product names and logos that are really just words and a product box.

 

Filed Under: .NET, Featured, Microsoft
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